k
2
Ken

Sold out is not what it seems

Our property does not take 1 night stays for a number of reasons.  I have contacted booking.com a couple of times on this issue but nothing has changed.  When a potential guests is looking for accommodation if they input a 1 night stay it will say basically " this accommodation does not have any availability.  Here are some other suggestions in your area."  Instead it should say" this accommodation may have a minimum night stay.  How many nights are you wanting to book?" I am sure there are a number of potential guests who move on because of this.  If they would input a 2 night stay there may be availability.  And to make things even worse, I receive this email from booking.com

Dear Partner,
We wanted to let you know that (name of accommodation) has no availability during the most searched for dates within the next 30 days.
In fact, 1026 guests saw your property as sold out.

We know that business can get rather busy, so we’ve made it easy for you to add more rooms if you have any available.

 

Has anyone else approached booking.com on this issue?  I can't believe I am the only one who does not offer a 1 night stay and we are missing out on bookings because of this incorrect message given to potential clients. 


Profile picture for the user j
2
Jkangarloo 6 years ago

I also have this issue, but I have not spoken to booking.com as it's generally a frustrating and ultimately fruitless endeavour. I would be interested to hear if anyone has.

c
1
Corkshoppe 6 years ago

you can set a 2 day minimum on your rooms thru the portal.

k
2
Ken 6 years ago

The issue is not the minimum night stay. The issue is the fact when someone inputs a 1 night stay to check on availability and prices, the message they get back is "this accommodation does not have any availability" rather than stating "This accommodation may have a minimum night stay". I am guessing most people first check on prices to make sure it is in their price range and they cannot get a cost unless there is availability, And when you have a 2 night or more minimum night stay the potential client is not able find out the price or proper availability. They end up moving on to another accommodator and I am sure places like mine which do not offer 1 night stays lose clients as a result. Hope that makes sense?

i
1
Info 6 years ago

I am just approaching this issue. Up until now I was happy with 1 night stay and my property has been booked for 85% or more of the month. The trouble is Booking.com guests fill up the diary with 1 night stay leaving no room for anyone else to book. The profit margins on 1 night stays are so minimal, I property manage so after my commission and booking.com commission is taken off plus the expenses and cleaners wage it is not leaving enough to warrant 1 night stay. Now I am reading this problem iit is not giving me a lot of encouragement.

During March the cottage is already booked for 24 nights out of the 31 days possible with 75% of these all being 1 night stays.

k
2
Ken 6 years ago

Best thing we ever did was get rid of 1 night stays and it sounds like you don't need to worry about that either. Way too much work for the amount of money you make off 1 night stays. Give a better price for 2 night stays or even longer. 1 night stays eliminate any potential long stays. But the issue with booking.com is they do not tell a potential client a particular accommodation does not take 1 night stays. The message they receive is you are full even though you have room but only take longer stays. Booking.com just wants to take our commission without making sure the accommodators are taken care of properly. I have contacted them on a number occasions and they have never followed it up.

Profile picture for the user j
3
Jessie & Jay (… 5 years ago

When we have a 2 or more night minimum stay restriction and a guest searches our area Booking.com reports: "We're sold out on your dates (1st date - 2nd date) 1 night." in white lettering on a bold red background. Then below it states: "These dates are still available, but might sell out soon." and lists some available dates.

To re-iterate what Ken has already said: " ... rather than stating "This accommodation may have a minimum night stay". I am guessing most people first check on prices to make sure it is in their price range and they cannot get a cost unless there is availability, And when you have a 2 night or more minimum night stay the potential client is not able find out the price or proper availability. They end up moving on to another accommodator ..."

It is not accurate to state we are "sold out" when the room is available if they choose to to meet the minimum stay restriction. Hopefully Booking.com will address this issue in the near future.

d
2
Denz 5 years ago

I am very concerned about this and I have posted a message in extranet about this it that I and others could be missing out on potential bookings. But what I have noticed that sometimes in firefox it gives the correct message like I just did it now it says for your check-in date, there's a minimum length of stay of 5 nights. In the booking.com app and mobile phone browser it just says sold out and if you tick show only available properties you are not on the list.

This is very wrong I am surprised that it hasn't been picked up before. I used booking.com to book my own stays numerous times and from my own experience I click always show available properties and therefore those owners could have lost a potential guest. But if it had a minimum stay I would still have a look and maybe extend my stay a day to meet the minimum but what is the point of looking if it has sold line highlighted. Hopefully partners who posted here can post on the extranet so something is done about it.

k
2
Ken 5 years ago

I know not long ago, an accommodation on Vancouver Island in British Columbia is suing Expedia for basically the same thing. I have had no reaction from Booking.com on this topic. It would be so easy to post the fact that there may be a minimum night requirement or something to that effect. But they love the 1 night bookings..

d
2
Denz 5 years ago

If they like 1 night bookings they can come and help with the cleaning. I had so far been lucky only once had a 2 night stay but majority is 4 and over and now I put minimum of 4 nights when I discovered the minimum nights option but that has a negative effect is that potential guests don't see you if they want 3 nights. I had no reply on the topic as well but it is clearly wrong when something says sold you know what that means and you move to the next home.

I received a survery email how to improve booking.com so hopefully there is room there to write suggestions and hopefully they read it.

m
1
Mp3por12 5 years ago

Hey, I get the same "red error" even though I have not set any restrictions on the length of booking. Do you guys know what is going on ? Here is my property "https://www.booking.com/hotel/bg/vila-terma.en-gb.html?aid=304142;label=gen173nr-1DCAEoggI46AdIM1gEaBeIAQGYAQm4ARjIAQzYAQPoAQGIAgGoAgQ;sid=520d14b3c20ebb740b345b1f00d7a6cb;dist=0&frindrecv=1&group_adults=4&group_children=0&no_rooms=1&sb_price_type=total&type=total&"

I can't even see it in the search results ? Any ideas ?